In 1968, the Netherlands reclaimed land from the sea for factories; when the development was abandoned, birds colonised it and the accidental wetland became a 56-square-kilometre nature reserve

In 1968, Dutch engineers drained a stretch of the IJsselmeer near Lelystad to create new land meant for factories and warehouses, a history recorded on the official site page kept by Nationaal Park Nieuw Land. The industrial estate was never built.

Raccontata datimesofindia.indiatimes.com